A Bedtime Story
by Timeloopy
Summary: Cyndi tells Emma and Zach a bedtime story that's been passed down through the Others over the generations. It's a tale of two brothers - one light haired and one dark - and they lived on an island long ago. . .


"There were two brothers," Cyndi begins as Emma and Zach sit in the shade of the jungle canopy. Cyndi glances around to be sure no one is listening – she doesn't know how the story will suit the one they've chosen to follow. She still isn't sure about her decision but she was sure about the destruction at hand.

Seeing no one, she continues, "There were two brothers. One was light and one was dark. They were wild and carefree boys who lived on an island with their parents who had been shipwrecked there well before they were born. Their father was strong and brave and their mother loved their father beyond all reason."

"That sounds good," Emma interjected.

"I suppose it was," Cyndi said thoughtfully. "For a time it was very good. They were all very happy together. And the island was almost magical. It had upon it sources of great power."

"Like magic wands?" Zach said hopefully.

"Not so much," Cyndi answered. "More like great pockets of energy – like the water in a well – only this was a well full of power."

"Magical power?" Zach asked.

"It seemed like magic to those who found it," Cyndi confirmed. "And the boys – the brothers – they found it. And as little boys do sometimes – they decided to keep it a secret from their parents."

"Oh, this is one of THOSE stories," Zach said picking up a stick and stabbing at the dirt.

"One of what stories?" Emma said impatiently.

"One of those stories that's supposed to teach you a lesson," he said grumpily.

"Not really," Cyndi said with a shrug. "Or if it is, I'm still not sure what the lesson is. May I finish?"

The children looked to her expectantly.

"Anyway, the boys found a pocket of the energy and quite by accident they learned that with it, they could do things."

"What kind of things?"

"Well, the dark-haired child could change his appearance. He could make himself look like anyone he wanted – his mother, his father, his brother – anyone at all. And he could run like the wind even before he found the power – but if he dipped into the well – he became stronger and faster – so much stronger and faster that he became a blur – like smoke – he was simply one place and then poof – he was somewhere else.."

"What was his name?" Emma asked.

"It doesn't matter – it's just a story. The fair-haired child could go anywhere in the world – he couldn't stay long – but he could go and visit and see things and talk to people. And he found a piece of glass and dipped it in the well and if he turned it one way – he could see one place and if he turned it another – he could see something else entirely. "

"Why couldn't they do the same things with the same power?" Emma questioned.

"Because it doesn't work that way – its like superheroes," Zach said beginning to like this story more than he'd thought.

"A little like superheroes," Cyndi agreed. "Anyway, it was all fun and games and the boys would dabble in the well and then go home to their loving parents and all was well. Until something terrible happened."

"Something terrible always happens to children in stories," Emma said archly.

"As opposed to real-life where children crash on planes and never see their families again," Zach said with a bite.

Cyndi laid a hand on his arm and continued. "There was an accident and their father was killed. The boys were very sad. So, very sad. But their mother was devastated. Their father had been her whole world."

"The boys tried everything to make her happy. The fair haired child even brought out his glass to show her people the people he'd met on his visits. And this cheered her a little. She became addicted to looking through the glass – it was the only thing that brought her out of the dark and into the light. She asked questions about the glass and the boys had no choice but to tell her of the well."

"She asked the fair haired child to visit the sister she hadn't seen since the shipwreck and he went. And when he came back, they found that if they turned the glass just right – they could see the sister. Soon, she spent all her time with the one son and hardly noticed the other at all."

"He grew jealous. And angry. And he ran so fast that he spun up into a cloud of smoke and cut a swath of destruction across the island."

"The smoke,"Emma whispered.

Cyndi nodded. "The smoke. But he was only a child and he only wanted his mother's approval. It was a lonely island and there was but the one family there – so he went to his brother and begged him to put the glass away so that they could be a family again. And his brother relented."

"But their mother fell into a deep depression. And as the fair-haired child sat watching his mother weep before the fire one night, his heart broke and he made a choice. A choice he might always regret. He went to the place where it was hidden and brought out the glass and showed it to his mother and her tears stopped."

"When his brother discovered what he had done, he was angry and they fought. But they'd both bathed in the power of the island and neither of them could win the battle – it raged on for hours – but no matter how hard they fought – nobody won."

"So the dark-haired child looked defiantly at his brother. 'She loves you best,' he said, 'because you give her what she wants, but I can give her what she truly wants'. And the fair-haired child grew pale as he watched his dark-haired brother change his appearance - to that of his father."

Emma clapped her hand over her mouth and Zach's eyes grew wide and round.

"And the dark haired child walked to the edge of his mother's garden and what little grasp of reality she had left – snapped. She spoke to the child as though he was his father. And though the child held her at arm's length – she told him things too weighty for a child to know. Until the child at long last could bear it no more and he turned back to his original form."

"Their mother shrieked and ran to the house to hide. She was never the same."

"'Look what you've done to her,' the fair haired child accused the other. 'Me? You're the one who brought the magic to her – you're the one with your fancy glass that dazzled her. I had no choice'"

"'There's always a choice,' the fair-haired child cried as his brother ran into the night. 'There's always a choice.'"

"So the fair-haired child is Jacob and the dark-haired child is the Smoke," Emma said solemnly.

"I don't know," Cyndi said cautiously. "Some say that later on, the dark haired child mastered the power in the well to the point that he stole the other's body and power. Leaving the roles reversed."

"But which one is the bad guy?" Zach asked puzzled. "The dark haired child destroyed her. But it was the fair-haired child that abused the power first."

"I don't know," Cyndi repeated. "I wish I did."

_A/N: This is what happens when I dabble in mythology. . .not the right guess I'm sure. . .but my best guess based on the idea that both Jacob and MIB are telling some parts of the truth. What do you think?_


End file.
